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Stop Ticketing Cyclists When Reckless Drivers Kill

When a person on a bike is killed by a driver, it is rarely the cyclist's fault. Yet it is NYPD policy to blame cyclists for their own deaths. This policy is cruel, and ineffective at preventing future crashes.

Neftaly Ramirez.

Kelly Hurley.

Lauren Davis.

Matthew von Ohlen.

All these cyclists, and countless others, were killed by dangerous, reckless drivers. Over 70% of the traffic crashes that killed cyclists in New York City in 2016 were caused by driver behavior. Yet in each case, the NYPD's official response was to ticket cyclists!

Enough is enough! Tell the City Councill's Transportation Chair Ydanis Rodriguez and Public Safety Chair Vanessa Gibson that we need their help to change NYPD policy. The NYPD must respond to deadly traffic crashes with real enforcement of the violations that cause those crashes.

This petition will be delivered to

City Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, City Council Member Vanessa Gibson

Under current NYPD policy, when a cyclist is killed by a driver, the local precinct tickets cyclists near the crash location. This policy is unconscionable, and ineffective at preventing future crashes.

Over 70% of the traffic crashes that killed cyclists in 2016 were caused by driver behavior. Yet the NYPD consistently targets cyclists in the aftermath of a crash, as though we are to blame for our own deaths. This is both a statistical falsehood, and out of sync with Mayor Bill de Blasio's Vision Zero Campaign.

As a New Yorker, I am asking your help to ensure that the NYPD abandon this offensive policy, and instead target dangerous drivers, basing traffic enforcement on the behaviors that cause deadly crashes.

Please, compel the NYPD to stop blaming cyclists for their deaths. The data speaks for itself. We need the NYPD to use their limited resources to target the dangerous driving behavior that threatens us all.